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The Hearing Trumpet
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Wikipedia article
'The Hearing Trumpet' is a 1974 surrealist novel by Mexican-British author Leonora Carrington. It follows the hard-of-hearing nonagenarian Marian, who is sent off to a peculiar old-age home by her family.
Plot
92-year-old Marian Leatherby lives in Mexico with her son Galahad, his wife Muriel, and her grandson Robert. Upon being gifted a hearing trumpet by her friend Carmella, Marian discovers that her family is planning to put her in an institution. At the institution Marian finds herself drawn into surreal and occult intrigue, conspiracy and adventure.
Publication
According to the introduction to the 2005 version by Ali Smith, the novel was first published in French translation in 1974, as 'Le Cornet Acoustique', and first published in the original English version in 1976.Carrington, Leonora 'The Hearing Trumpet', introduction by Ali Smith, page xi, Penguin Books, ISBN 9780141187990 According to American art historian Susan L. Aberth 'The Hearing Trumpet' was completed in 1950.Aberth, Susan L. 'Leonora Carrington: Surrealism, Alchemy and Art'. Aldershot, Hampshire: Lund Humphries, 2004, page 60
The novel was reprinted by New York Review Books in 2021.
Reception
Critical reception
In his review for 'The New York Times' American novelist Blake Butler referred to the novel as "[...] as something at last truly radical, undoing not only our expectations of time and space, but of the psyche and its boundaries". Ali Smith called the book "One of the most original, joyful, satisfying and quietly visionary novels of the twentieth century."Carrington, Leonora 'The Hearing Trumpet', introduction by Ali Smith, page xv, Penguin Books, ISBN 9780141187990 Spanish filmmaker Luis Buuel wrote: "Reading 'The Hearing Trumpet' liberates us from the miserable reality of our days."Carrington, Leonora 'The Hearing Trumpet', back cover, Penguin Books, ISBN 9780141187990Academic analysis
Carrington had a relationship with German artist Max Ernst. Rene Riese Hubert has pointed out some influences Ernst may have had on 'The Hearing Trumpet', though she argues that the defining influences on the novel were "[...] certain traditions in British literature [...Carrington's] familiarity with Mexican culture and myths, and [...Carrington's] enthusiasm for Eskimo and Asian cultures [...]".Ali Smith regards the book as "a statement on maturity, and the meanings of maturity"Carrington, Leonora 'The Hearing Trumpet', introduction by Ali Smith, page xi, Penguin Books, ISBN 9780141187990 and states: "Fundamentally, 'The Hearing Trumpet' is a book about profound disconnection; at its centre are people unable to hear each other, or unwilling to."Carrington, Leonora 'The Hearing Trumpet', introduction by Ali Smith, page xii, Penguin Books, ISBN 9780141187990
References
Category:1974 novels
Category:Surrealist novels
Category:Mexican novels
Category:NYRB Classics
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